Afghans being moved out of Islamabad

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Pakistan plans to quietly move legal Afghan refugees out of Islamabad and Rawalpindi before sending them back to their country, a media report said on Tuesday.

Dawn quoted sources familiar with the plan as saying that authorities had been instructed to execute the strategy without making it public.

A flurry of meetings, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last week, finalised the plan. Chief of Army Staff Gen Syed Asim Munir also attended one of the meetings.

In phase-I of the relocation plan, refugees with the Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) will be “immediately” moved out of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

Later on, they would be repatriated to Afghanistan along with illegal and undocumented refugees, the newspaper reported.

However, they would not be deported immediately, according to the report, which said the cabinet had allowed Afghans with PoRs to stay in the country till June.

The total number of Afghans living in Pakistan with PoR and ACC is estimated at 1.3 million and 700,000, respectively.

Meanwhile, Afghans awaiting resettlement in third countries will be driven from the twin cities by March 31.

The Foreign Office will coordinate with embassies and other international organisations to speed up the resettlement process.

In line with the new plan, the Afghans who could not be resettled in a third country will also be sent back to their homeland.

A leading coalition of resettlement and veterans groups says 10,000 to 15,000 Afghans are in Pakistan waiting for visas or resettlement in the US.

The Ministry of Interior will lead the relocation and deportation plans, with Intelligence Bureau and ISI monitoring their implementation.

According to IOM, 805,991 Afghans have returned to their country from Pakistan since Sept 15, 2023.

Human rights activists and civil society members have filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the forced repatriations.

On January 7, the federal government assured the court documented Afghan refugees, including those with PoRs or ACC, would be provided full legal protection.

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